Who Loves Lucy?

Moya Saya-Jones (author)

Puffin Books, Australia: 2005; 175pp

ISBN: 0143302426

Genres: realistic fiction

Issues: adolescence, family, identity

Lucy Flowers thinks that her sister deciding to move out may well be a good thing. After all, Jaynie treats her like dirt most of the time - when she's not expecting Lucy to wait on her hand and foot, that is! At least it would mean Lucy had a room to herself.

What she doesn't expect, however, is for Jaynie's departure to send her slightly eccentric, academic mother accelerating into a mid-life crisis. Particularly one that requires Lucy's involvement at a time when she is far more interested in her favourite male cousin who's just returned from New Zealand. What is a girl to do when her parents are falling apart, her sister seems to be finding life ‘on the outside' rather tougher than she expected, and her best girlfriend is having troubles of her own?

The aspects of family life that are described, the incidents at school and at home that cause Lucy such concern and embarrassment are wonderfully normal events in teenage experience, although delightfully comical in the context of her tendency to self-dramatise. The very normality of Lucy's life serves as a pleasant contrast to other novels in this genre that tend towards darker, more negative portrayals of family life. Although the diary approach has been overused recently and often works against the author, creating a very limited narrative perspective, in this particular case it works well. The first-person narration allows the author to show Lucy's development from a fairly self-absorbed (normal) early teenager to a more mature girl who is aware of the needs and motivations of others. Girls will find it easy to relate to Lucy's experiences but this is novel that's unlikely to appeal to boys.

Try also: Looking for Mr Right (Jacquie Harvey)